The Life of Juniper Potter
by Helga G. Pataki
Summary: Juniper Potter faces her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Full summary inside Femmeslash, don't like, don't read
1. Prologue

**The Life of Juniper Potter**

**Prologue**

**The Giant's Call**

**A/N-This is an idea that I've been bouncing around in my head for the better part of a month. So without further adu, I present to you****The Life of Juniper Potter.**

**Full Summary-Juniper Potter faces her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She leaves behind a troublesome past to face a troll, Voldemort, and a well of confusing emotions for new best-friend and everyone's favorite brunette. Femslash Harry/Hermione(Eventual) don't like don't read.**

**Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.**

Juniper sighed as she looked around the dark and dreary cabin. There was water dripping from holes in the ceiling and half full buckets keeping the flood from soaking her and her cousin's cots. Wind assaulted the house so brutally she thought they were going to be blown off the dingy little Island her uncle dragged them to.

It wasn't her uncle's first choice. They had tried to stay at a fairly respectable hotel up north, but her uncle had rushed them out the second the clerk said there were letters for a Juniper Potter. Since the letters were what we were trying to get away from, it seemed to defeat the purpose.

She received her first letter a little over a week ago. Her uncle snatched it up the second she saw it; said freaks didn't deserve mail. She unconsciously grabbed her arm where the bruise she received resided. She progressively got more and more mail coming from different parts of the house. Her personal favorite was when the fireplace started shooting them out like a geyser. The final straw was on Sunday when the house was flooded with them. She preferred parchment over precipitation.

Freak… Her aunt and uncle threw that word around her a lot. She didn't think she looked like a freak. She was skinny, but that was because they didn't let her eat with them. She had to eat the scraps that were left behind. Her aunt was the only one that really left anything for her to eat. The rest of her family ate like pigs, but she always got half a plate of food from Aunt Petunia's meal. She was short too; shorter than everyone else in school. She didn't have clothes, none that were her own at least; she was stuck with her cousin's hand me downs.

She liked her long red hair and green eyes though, even though her aunt hated them with a vehement passion. It reminded her to much of her 'dead-beat mother' as she called her. She couldn't really tell; she'd never seen a picture of her.

Aunt Petunia did everything she could to tame her red hair._'Make it more refined so the neighbors wouldn't think they were raising some sort of harlot,'_ was her reasoning. She tried putting it into a bun but it kept puffing out. She eventually got frustrated and took a pair of scissors to it, leaving it a dilapidated mess. Juniper cried herself to sleep that night, it was back to the way it was the next morning, and Uncle Vernon thoroughly punished her for her freakiness.

Aunt Petunia always seemed nice compared to Uncle Vernon. Whenever something went wrong, she was the one that was blamed for it, and Uncle Vernon seemed to enjoy corporal punishment. It was always in a place that no one would see the bruises.

While her aunt loathed her and her uncle seemed to hate her, her cousin was the worst of the three. Dudley was the prized child of his parents. They loved him and spoiled him horrendously. His room back home was filled with some of the nicest and most expensive toys they could find.

Dudley was also the biggest bully at their school, and his favorite target was Juniper. He chased away anyone that would try befriend her and led a group of kids in his favorite past time, Harry hunting.

Juniper could usually get away from them. She was fast for her age. She had to be, the thought of what would happen if they caught her terrified her far more than a beating from Uncle Vernon. She still couldn't use her left hand as well as she could before from when they slammed it in the door.

The clock on the wall slowly began to chime. It was officially July 31, her Birthday. She never got a party or a gift from anyone in her family. She was the only one that celebrated her own birthday.

Well… that wasn't exactly true. She always got a mystery gift from someone. It was left in her cupboard with nothing more than a not telling her hide it under the broken floorboard on the upper right-hand corner of the cupboard floor. She doubted if anyone would leave anything this year.

She quietly sang happy birthday to herself and reached under her cot to give herself the card she made. She got to the last verse when she heard a loud resounding bang. The whole house shook a little. It wasn't thunder this time, someone was at the door.

BANG, there it was again. Uncle Vernon started barreling down the stairs with a shot gun in hand. Petunia stood behind him shaking. Juniper didn't know if it was from fear of from the cold. She was poking her eyes over her husband's fairly large form to see what was happening. Dudley was cowering in the corner behind his cot hoping that whoever was at the door wouldn't see him, he failed horribly because Juniper could see rather large rump sticking out from under his bed.

BANG-BANG-BANG, each pound came in time with Juniper's heart beat, fearful of the house caving in. No one else was supposed to be on this Island. It's why Uncle Vernon picked this twig-hut. Who would want to talk to them badly enough to come to this hell-hole?

"Alright then, whoever you are. Leave now!" Uncle Vernon said. Finding his voice an octave higher than what he was used to. He was just as scared as she was.

BOOM, The door was hurled back; splintering from its hinges. Juniper jumped in shock, as did the Dursleys. She looked through the gaping hole to see pink umbrella being closed, revealing the largest person Juniper had ever seen. He entered the shack, pink umbrella still in hand, each step making the shack shake and sputter in protest.

"Sorry about that." The large man said before placing the door against the hole. Holding fast to splinters and broken hinges, the wind died down a bit.

The man towered over Uncle Vernon by a good four feet. He had one of the scruffiest beards Juniper had ever seen, and the hair on his head matched it scruff for scruff, each long enough to reach his massive chest and back. He wore a horrid brown leather coat that was soaked to where it clung to his skin, the tiny umbrella in his hands did very little to stop the rain from pelting his giant form.

Uncle Vernon's face was conflicted. It looked as though he couldn't decide whether he wanted to scream at the giant or cower in fear. The result was a compromise and he just barely managed to stutter a response. Juniper was hiding behind the couch by this point, and Aunt Petunia was behind a support beam by her husband.

"Who the b-bloody hell are you!" Uncle Vernon stammered out. "Leave, now!"

"Boil it out yer arse Dursley." was the giant's response. His voice was gruff with a bit of a Scottish accent. He yanked the gun from Uncle Vernon's hands, tied it into a knot, and promptly handed it back to a very pale Uncle Vernon. What came from the giant's mouth shocked Juniper enough to where she stumbled out from her hiding place.

"Special delivery for a Juniper Lily Potter. Please come out to claim your letter!" The giant smiled as he spotted a girl fall from behind the couch. He walked over, knelt down to eye level and put a hand on under my chin. "You look so much like your mother. James would've been just as smitten with you as he was with his own wife." The giant looked like he was near tears. "Last time I saw 'yer. Ye were nothing more than a wee baby."

"You k-knew my p-parents, sir," she stuttered out. She had had it for as long as she had been able to speak. The giant simply smiled before he wiped the tears from his beard.

"There weren't a better pair out there then Lily and James. Your hair's as untamed as yer dads, but yer the spitting image of your mother in every other regard." He fished out a small box holding a cake. It read 'Happy Birthday in frosting. "I got this fer ya, though I may have sat on it once or twice." He turned and gazed menacingly over to her uncle. "I suppose a cup o' tea would be too much to ask for, eh? It was a very long and difficult trip."

The fear and shock that had gripped Uncle Vernon seemed to wear off at this point and he began shouting at the giant. "Cup of tea? CUP OF TEA! Get out of my house you oafish buffoon. You're breaking and entering. LEAVE! NOW!"

"I'll take that as a no. That's all ye had ter say." The giant of a man looked to the ground and began muttering to himself. "Honestly, I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, leaving you with this lot. Ye would've done better living with me then with these muggles." Juniper figured he didn't expect anyone to hear him. Juniper heard every word though.

"E-excuse me, s-sir," the giant returned his gaze to the little girl before him when she started to speak. The smile seemed to return post haste. "But, w-who e-exactly are y-you?"

"O' course. Where are my manners? My name's Hagrid, Keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts." Hagrid puffed out his chest as he said this. He seemed extremely proud of the position. Juniper just looked at him weirdly.

"Where's th-that?" she asked timidly. Hagrid just fished a letter out of one of his many pockets and handed it to Juniper.

"That should tell you everything you need to know about Hogwarts." Vernon made to grab the letter out of her hands but Hagrid stopped him the second he made a move. He tumbled down to the couch. Juniper had already started reading

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_  
><em>of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY<em>

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_  
><em>(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,<em>  
><em>Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)<em>

_Dear Ms. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._  
><em>Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.<em>

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerava McGonagal_  
><em>Deputy Headmistress<em>

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_  
><em>of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY<em>

_UNIFORM_  
><em>First-year students will require:<em>  
><em>sets of plain work robes (black)<em>  
><em>plain pointed hat (black) for day wear<em>  
><em>pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)<em>  
><em>winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)<em>  
><em>Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.<em>

_COURSE BOOKS_  
><em>All students should have a copy of each of the following:<em>

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_  
><em>by Miranda Goshawk<em>

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_  
><em>by Phyllida Spore<em>

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_  
><em>by Newt Scamander<em>

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_  
><em>by Quentin Trimble<em>

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_  
><em>1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)<em>  
><em>1 set glass or crystal phials<em>  
><em>1 telescope<em>  
><em>1 set brass scales<em>

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

**_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_**

"I-is th-this some kind o-of j-joke?" She asked. This was a bit extreme for a joke, but it wouldn't be the first time. Hagrid got this really serious look on his face.

"Ye mean ter tell me that she doesn't know anything!" Hagrid shouted to Aunt Petunia. Juniper looked a little miffed at the implications. She knew stuff. Her grades were low because she got punished if she did better than Dudley.

"No, and that's the way it's going to stay." Aunt Petunia finally seemed to find her voice. "You're not carting her off to that freak school."

Hagrid just shot her a dirty look and turned to Juniper again.

"I kn-know some st-stuff, I c-can do r-really w-well in math, a-and I read a l-lot." Juniper mumbled this out as she stared at the ground. Hagrid just smiled.

"Not what I meant, I meant that ye knew nuttin about who you are. WHAT you are."

"W-What exactly am I?" Juniper was officially confused.

"Stop it this instant. You are not to tell her a single word more." Hagrid just ignored Uncle Vernon and pressed on.

"Yer a witch, Juniper." Hagrid then noticed Dudley eating the cake he gave Juniper, and promptly gave him a pig's tail.

**Scene-Shift**

Hermione wasn't having the best of days. She had just come home from school and wanted to take a shower before her parents saw. They'd react badly and demand a meeting with the school, again. The meeting would end with one of the kids getting scolded, and they'd come at her even harder than they did before.

She had gotten out early for this prank in particular. They had tampered with her locker; rigged it so that she would get a face full of sticky stuff when she opened it. She had no idea what it was, and she didn't really want to, she just wanted it OFF.

She hated school. She loved learning, she loved reading, and she loved trying new things but she hated school, or at the very least, this school. She didn't have a single friend to her name. Those that didn't outright bully her called her a know-it-all and avoided her. The teachers wouldn't even call on her in class anymore! That was her place to shine!

The reason she was going over the summer was for tutoring. No she didn't need tutoring, she was the one doing the tutoring. She wanted to get away from here and for that she needed a scholarship of some kind, and for that she needed as much standing academically as possible.

The water felt good on her face. She was relieved that whatever this goop was, it came off fairly easily. What was weird was how easy it came out of her hair. She would've figured that she'd have to cut it off, but it left her hair as easy as the shampoo did.

She got out and dried off real quick so she could change before her parents got home. She still had to change and get rid of her clothes. If only she co-

"Hermione, you home?" it was the voice of her Mother. Darn it!

"I'm in the bathroom mom. I'll be out in a bit." She looked down and noticed that the clothes she had on were completely clean. Not a speck of the gunk was left. She gaped, thinking how something like this was possible. She finally just absolved that the goop didn't do well with heat and melted off her clothes. That made sense, right?

She dried her hair and threw her clothes back on before leaving to greet her parents. When she got to the living room where they normally met, she noticed that her mother wasn't there. "Where's mom?"

"Talking with someone in the kitchen, Hermione, how would you feel about going to a different school?" her father asked. Hermione got wide eyed. She had been asking to go to a different school for months. They had told her that they didn't have enough money to send her elsewhere and they would have to wait until they could afford it.

"Which school? When do I start? What do I need? What books do I need to read? Did I get scholarship? Is that why I get to go now?" The questions were leaving her mouth faster than even she could understand. Her dad just smiled.

"You can ask the lady your mom is talking with about it. She approached us about an opportunity for you to go to a special school. She said that the school would pay for traveling expenses and the first year of school supplies. You can go in and talk to her about it now."

Hermione raced to the kitchen to find her mother talking to a very stern looking older woman. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she was very tall and thin. She had a few wrinkles and her lips were pursed in a very subtle smile.

"Good afternoon, Hermione Granger I presume." Hermione only nodded in silent approval "Well I imagine you have a number of questions for me, but first I ask that you read this. It's the acceptance letter for the school that you would be attending if you're so inclined." Hermione reached up and took the letter slowly as she said this.

"Dear Miss Granger, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry…" Hermione stopped reading right there. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"I assure you Miss Granger," she reached up and pulled a long piece of wood from her robes. "This is not a joke." She gave it a wave and a rather elegant looking chair appeared behind her. "Would you care to have a seat so we can continue talking?" Hermione's mouth was touching the floor by this point. She very shakily sat in the chair the woman had conjured. "My name is Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts, head of Gryffindor house, and your Transfiguration teacher should you accept."

"Surely there must be some mistake, I mean…" The professor raised a hand to stop her.

"Let me stop you right there. All I ask you right now is a simple question for you to think on for a few minutes. Has anything strange ever seemed to happen around you? A book flying into your hand, things changing color around you for no reason, or perhaps you were walking one place and suddenly ending up in another. These are instances of what we call accidental magic and the determining point of whether or not you are in fact a witch. Has anything like that ever happened to you?" Hermione started to say no, but as she thought the more she realized that a few things like what Professor McGonagall said had in fact happened.

"Some things like that have happened, yes." Professor McGonagall smiled at her reply.

"Would you be interested in attending classes at Hogwarts? You would learn to control your magic among other things." Professor McGonagall noticed that as she said this Hermione's shocked expression started to dissolve.

She started bombarding Professor McGonagall with questions. She was never going back to her old school again!

**A/N- The prologue is done. Be sure to review what you have read here today.**


	2. Chapter 1

**The Life of Juniper Potter**

**Chapter One**

**A Chance Meeting**

**A/N-I'm posting this chapter, the previous chapter, and the next chapter at the same time, that way we can get straight into the good stuff. Aren't I nice person? Also, I apologize if I butcher Hagrid's accent.**

**Disclaimer** -**I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.**

Juniper had seen a great many strange things in her life. She had teleported herself to the school roof once. She did it to escape a beating at the hands of her cousin and his gang, though it was completely unintentional and unexpected, and she didn't even know what happened at the time. Man she got in a lot of trouble for that. She was accustomed to weird things happening to her.

What she was not accustomed to was having an entire tavern full of drunken wizards gawking at the scar on her forehead. She got that she had 'saved' them from their supposed dark lord, but she wasn't even a year old when it happened. What did they expect; a detailed narrative of how he died?

Then you had the procession of people coming up to shake my hand. She didn't mean to be rude. She just really, really didn't like being touched by drunks. She really didn't like the admiration coming from a few of the patrons in particular; they had this weird glint in their eyes. Hagrid started sending them off after a bit.

"I think we should get out o' here before we attract another mob." Hagrid said with a smile on his face.

"Th-That would p-probably be wise." spoke an unfamiliar voice. She looked up to see a strange man dressed in a turban.

"Ah, Professor Quirrell, great ter see ya again. Juniper this will be yer Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell. Professor Quirrell this here is…" Hagrid was cut off at this point.

"Juniper Potter…" He seemed awestruck as he gazed upon her scar. It was at this time that she started developing a headache. The exchange between Hagrid and Professor Quirrell became muffled. She felt the strong urge to turn around. She did so to see a dark skinned woman with frizzy black hair and a bandana. She was glaring at her scar. Juniper felt a very strong urge to leave; people that glare at her like that never have the best of intentions. She turned to see that Hagrid and Professor Quirrell were saying their good-byes. She urged to Hagrid that they should hurry up.

Hagrid ushered her downstairs to the cellar. She gave him a strange look. "Don't worry. This is the best part when I get people from muggles." Hagrid had a grin from ear to ear and had gotten his pink umbrella out.

"M-muggles?" she asked; yet another term that she had no idea of the meaning.

"Non-magic folk," Hagrid explained. Juniper nodded in understanding. She made a note to grab a dictionary for magical terms when they stopped by the bookstore. This was getting confusing. "Now stand back." Juniper did so post-haste.

"Three up, two across…" Hagrid muttered as he tapped the bricks. The stones suddenly began to shift as though they were part of a giant rubric's cube. They gradually formed an arch that led outside. A sign was visible off to the side.

"Welcome, Juniper, to Diagon alley." Hagrid grinned at Juniper's look of pure amazement. The nearest shop had a big sign up that proclaimed a sale on star charts and fortunes, the window looked like the night sky. Just beyond that was a potions shop with all different kinds of fancy cauldrons. There was a gold one, a silver one, and there was even one with jewels encrusted into the handle. The other side of the street was home to a store with a set of three birds in the window the highest banister had a snowy white owl, she thought that the owl was one of the most beautiful things that she had ever seen.

"Hagrid, how am I g-going to pa-pay for all this?" Juniper asked with a dour expression. "D-does the school h-have a t-trust fund for th-those who c-can't afford t-to come?"

Hagrid just smiled at this. "Well they do, but I doubt if you'll need it. Ye didn't think yer parents left ye with nuttin' did ya?" Hagrid inquired with a look of mock indignation. Juniper just stared at Hagrid confusedly. "Next stop, Gringotts."

Hagrid led her down the road. She took this as an opportunity to look around some more. Each store seemed to have its own unique flare to it. There was a place called Florean Fortiscue's that sold sweets. It looked so inviting and had a very long line. Next to that was a sign that led out to a place called Knockturn Alley. She noticed that not many people were going down that particular alley. She did however see the same girl she saw in the pub wander down its darkened streets. She also saw a man with greasy black hair follow after her.

The final place that caught her eye however was a bookstore. Flourish and Blotts was the name that loomed over a book on the signpost in big white letters. The words were surrounded by a set of two quills. The window showcased a rather large tome labeled _Hogwarts a History_. The door looked so inviting that she had to fight to stay with Hagrid.

'Money first, books later, money first, books later,' was the mantra that she kept repeating in her head. When they finally reached the bank, Juniper raced straight through the door, eager to get to all of the different shops in the alley. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the creature that stood by the door. She had never seen anything like it in her life. "Ha-Hagrid, what kind of c-creature is th-that?" The creature sent a glare to Juniper that made her shrink back behind Hagrid. Juniper went several shades paler.

"That, Juniper is a goblin. Good morning Griphook." The goblin turned his attention to the giant and muttered a good morning in return.

"I-I'm sorry for being r-rude, I-I'm still t-taking everything i-in and I got a l-little excited." Griphook just nodded his head and went into the building. Juniper then noticed the sign on the door.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed__  
><em>Of what awaits the sin of greed,<em>  
><em>For those who take, but do not earn,<em>  
><em>Must pay most dearly in their turn.<em>  
><em>So if you seek beneath our floors<em>  
><em>A treasure that was never yours,<em>  
><em>Thief, you have been warned, beware<em>  
><em>Of finding more than treasure there.<em>_

"Basically, don't steal nuttin'. Not that you could if ye tried. Ye'd have to be mad to try and rob Gringotts. The only place safer in the world is Hogwarts, after you me lady." Juniper smiled as Hagrid held the door open for her. He ushered me to the front desk where Griphook waited patiently. "We've come to access the Potter vault."

"Do you have her key?" Griphook asked critically.

"Hold on got it 'ere somewhere." He began to fish through his different pockets pulling out an assortment of dog-biscuits and keys, none of which were the ones he was looking for. Griphook looked on it what Juniper believed was disgust until he finally pulled out her key.

"I also have a letter from Dumbledore, 'bout the you-know-what in vault seven hundred and thirteen." Hagrid pulled out a small faded envelope. Griphook read it very carefully before asking them to please follow him. He led them to a large mine cart and motioned for us to get in.

"I hate this part." Juniper didn't have time to ponder what he meant, it seemed to answer itself when she was hurled to the back of the cart as it very rapidly picked up speed. There were a bunch of rapid twists and turns and they eventually ended up at what he figured was his vault. Hagrid looked like he was about to throw up.

"I hate these things. I hate 'em so much." Hagrid was muttering under his breath as he tried to recompose himself. One hand was on the cart keeping him steady.

Griphook opened the vault and led them both inside. Juniper paled when she saw it. Gold! Lots of gold! Enough to swim in! Hagrid just smiled.

"All yours." Was Hagrid's response to Juniper's expression. Juniper gaped. All of this was hers. The Dursleys had gone on and on about how she was a freeloading wench and she had enough money to buy their house twenty times over. They couldn't have known about this.

Hagrid helped her pile some of it into a bag. "Don't spend it all in one place now, ye here. That bag should last you a couple of terms." Hagrid just smiled and laughed a little at the fact that her mouth still hadn't closed.

"Now then, on to vault seven hundred and thirteen. Could we maybe go a little slower this time?" Hagrid almost pleaded. Griphook had an evil smile on his face.

"One speed." He slammed the lever and they were barreling down the tracks once more.

Juniper was expecting mounds of gold or something really big and expensive to garner all of this special attention. She was a little shocked that a vault larger than his own was home to a single package wrapped in cloth, small enough to fit in Hagrid's pocket. They got back into the cart, much to Hagrid's chagrin and were quickly among the witches and wizards in Diagon Alley.

"So then, Juniper, do you have any preference on where to start?" Hagrid asked through a pained expression. Juniper smiled and softly asked to go to the place she wanted to go since she got here.

"C-could we go to th-the bookstore, please?"

**Scene-Shift**

Hermione had never been this excited in her life. She was a witch, she was going to a new school, and the school was paying for her to go! They were slowly making their way to a pup that Minerva called the Leaky Cauldron. As the boarded the train, they heard Professor McGonagall mutter that muggle transportation was so slow. When we got off she took us to a tall and dark building that had a sign overhead.

"Here we are." Professor McGonagall had to bite back a chuckle at the Granger parents shared look of confusion.

"We are?" Asked Jane Granger, Hermione's mother. She looked like an older version of Hermione. Her hair hung down to the middle of her back and was the same color as Hermione's, but a lot less frizzy than the preteen's. She had deep brown eyes and a tall slender figure that Hermione was hoping she would eventually grow into.

"There's nothing here but a condemned building." Said Adam Granger, Hermione's father. He stood just a little shorter then Professor McGonagall with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb in years.

"It's right there. It has a big sign overhead. It says the Leaky Cauldron." Hermione exclaimed as she pointed to what her parents saw as a group of boards.

"Oh, right, the wards. You two take my hands, we'll lead you into the building. Whatever you do don't let go." Professor McGonagall offered both hands to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. As they walked, Hermione's parents got increasingly more anxious and even fought to free their hands from McGonagall's grasp. They eventually got through and were standing in a pup.

"What the heck was that?" the professor smirked at Mr. Granger's response.

"That, Mr. Granger, was a ward designed to keep muggles out. It disguised the place as a condemned building and had a compulsion charm that made you want to leave. It's what keeps this place hidden. That was the hard part, and now that you've gone through the wards on this pub, you'll be able to come and go as you please, though you'll still need Hermione to get to the alley if you take this route. There are a number of quicker ways to get there, but that was needed to get you through the wards on Diagon Alley." She turned to Hermione. "Remind me to connect your parents' house with the floo network. It will allow easier transport for them, and they don't even need to be wizards to use it.

"Floo network?" Hermione asked.

"A magical way of transport. It lets you travel between fireplaces, as well as talk through it like a telepone." Professor McGonagall seemed completely oblivious to the mispronunciation.

"That's telephone." Hermione corrected. Professor McGonagall blanched a bit.

"I'm sorry, the magical world is a bit out of touch with the muggle world." She had a sheepish expression on her face. She considered herself fairly knowledgeable on things in the muggle world.

"It's alright, we had the no idea the magical world existed. You can be patient with us, we can be patient with you." The professor gave Mrs. Granger a smile for her kind reassurance before turning to gaze toward a set of stairs leading down.

"Right then, follow me please. The entrance to Diagon Alley is just down these steps." They followed her down to the cellar, where they came upon a solid brick wall. "Now, watch carefully." She tapped her wand on a few bricks and the whole wall started to shift. The bricks parted and started to form an archway for them to enter. "Welcome to Diagon Alley." The Granger family gaped throughout the proceedings.

"Right, so where to first?" asked Mr. Granger.

"Bookstore!" was the immediate reply from Hermione.

"The bank is our first stop. You'll need to know how that works and I need to get money from the student trust fund." Hermione deflated at hearing these words. Her mom saw this and thought she'd let her daughter enjoy her trip here a bit more.

"We could always split up, Adam can go with you to show us how things work and I could start pulling out books from her list at the bookstore. Plus whatever else she would like to look at." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips.

"Are you sure, we might be a while at Gringott's." Mr. Granger laughed at this statement.

"Professor, Hermione would keep herself busy until we got all of her school supplies if we left her in the bookstore, and then we'd have to drag her away." Professor McGonagall agreed but told them to be careful, she led them to the entrance of Flourish and Blotts and carted Mr. Granger off to Gringotts. Mrs. Granger was quickly enveloped in a massive hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" were the words that came from Hermione's lips. She rushed through the doors at a lightning fast speed, only to run full on into another individual.

**Scene-Shift**

Juniper got hit, hard. She was lying on her back, and everything seemed really blurry. She reached up and touched her face when she realized what was missing. She shot upright in a panic. Her glasses! She was basically blind now! She started to scramble all over the floor in a desperate attempt at sight.

Hermione was slowly starting to regain her wits. She got up slowly and saw a girl with long red hair rubbing her head. She started to move fast after that, offering a hand to the girl she knocked down and apologizing profusely. The other girl ignored her hand and started scrambling furiously on the ground.

"W-Where are th-they?" Juniper said frantically.

"Where are what?" Hermione asked with a confused expression on her face.

"M-my glasses. I c-can't see anything without th-them." The reply was very short and clipped. Hermione looked around and noticed a pair of glasses on the floor. They were cracked on one side and Hermione began feeling a little nervous. Fifteen minutes in the magical world and she had already gotten on someone's bad side.

"Are these your glasses?" Hermione put them on Juniper's face carefully and the girl relaxed almost instantly.

"Th-thank you." Hermione looked a little downcast when she heard the response.

"Don't be, I'm the one that ran into you. I'm really, really sorry." said Hermione. Juniper just smiled.

"D-don't worry a-about it. Th-these b-break all th-the t-time, b-but th-there always r-right as rain th-the next d-day. I n-never kn-knew why until a few d-days ago." Hermione got excited when she heard that.

"So you're from a muggle family as well?" Hermione asked. Juniper tensed a little bit, but nodded.

"Sort of." Juniper responded nervously. Hermione got even more excited.

"I was so excited when the person from Hogwarts came. I think Professor McGonagall said that I had my mouth on the floor for about a minute and a half after she told me I was a witch. I just couldn't believe it. Magic was real, we're able to do it, and we even get to go to a school where we can learn anything we want about it. It's a great opportunity isn't it?" Juniper just nodded and smiled before responding, no one ever talked to her this much.

"It w-was a b-bit of a shock. I am e-excited to be going t-to Hogwarts. I d-didn't h-have a l-lot of f-friends at my old s-school." Hermione frowned, thinking of her own school when she heard this.

"Well we'll just have to change that then, my name is Hermione Granger, and yours would be?" Juniper stared on in shock for a minute before choking out a response.

"Ju-Juniper. Juniper Potter."

**A/N-There are going to be quite a few difference between this and the original. Parts of it are going to be brief because it's the same or similar to the book. That said, be sure to take note of the subtle differences between the book and this. Those will be important later on. Be sure to review.**


	3. Chapter 2

**The Life of Juniper Potter**

**Chapter Two**

**The Shopping Experience**

**Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.**

Adam Granger understood the specifics of wizard banking fairly quickly. He understood the exchange rate, the vault system, and seemed to get over the fact that it wasn't run by humans quite quickly. Most individuals had a harder time accepting the existence of what most people called creatures of fantasy, but he seemed to take it in stride.

Until McGonagall let it slip that dragons guarded some of the more high security vaults. Then he started to freak out a little. He calmed down when he was instructed that no one had ever died in Gringotts unless they were foolish enough to try and steal something.

They had just finish picking up what they needed. Mr. Granger even changed some of his muggle money for wizard money. They were on their way back to Flourish and Blotts to pick up Hermione and her mother when Professor McGonagall noticed someone she knew.

"Hagrid, what on earth are you doing here." Professor McGonagall said loudly, it seemed to garner the attention of one of the largest individuals Mr. Granger had ever laid eyes on.

"Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall. I was just guiding young Juniper on her firs' trip ter Diagon Alley. We went to the bookstore first on her request, and I didn't quite have the heart to pull her away. I used it as opportunity to get her a birthday present." Hagrid pulled up a cage that held a snowy white owl.

"An Owl?" Asked Mr. Granger. He didn't see a great many people sporting owls as pets. Professor McGonagall nodded before explaining.

"Owls are used to deliver wizarding mail. No matter where you are, how well you hide, or what kind of protections you set up, a magical owl will find you and deliver your letter. They are inconceivably smart animals and make amazing pets. It is a beautiful owl, Hagrid." Hagrid just smiled at the praise as he gazed upon the bird.

"Saw Juniper eyeing the girl as we walked past Eyelops Owl Emporium. Thought it'd make a nice birthday gift. Muggle?" Professor McGonagall nodded in response before speaking.

"This is Adam Granger. Father of Hermione Granger, one of our new students. Adam this is our groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid." Hagrid reached out to shake the man's hand.

"Pleased to meet you." Mr. Granger responded with a nervous smile.

"Nice ter meet you as well. It's a step up from the muggles I had to deal with earlier today." Professor McGonagall knew what Hagrid meant, she didn't like the Dursleys either.

"Trouble at the Dursleys?" She stated it as a question, but it was meant as a statement.

"They deserve a heck of a lot worse then what I did to em. I meant to turn their son into a pig, but apparently there wasn't enough left to change and all he got was a tail." Mr. Granger looked a little horrified at the prospect of what Hagrid proposed he had done.

"Hagrid…" Professor McGonagall began to scold Hagrid but he was cut off by Hagrid going into a rant.

"Let's see how chipper you are after havin to trek out ter the middle of nowhere to deliver a letter to someone who should have known who she was from birth and then deal with the Dursleys. The place they picked out was a right decent hell-hole in the middle of a typhoon. I was afraid to knock the first few times for fear of knocking the place down. The only high point was seein Juniper and taking her out of there."

"Could someone please explain to me who the Dursleys are and why Hagrid felt the need to turn their son into a pig?" Mr. Granger was still a little pale when he started speaking.

"Not all parents are as accepting as you and Jane are. You'll find people that come to hate their own relatives when they learn that they're magical. Juniper's parents were killed shortly after she was born and she was sent to live with the Dursleys as they were her only living relatives. Am I right in assuming that the Dursleys are examples of that?" Professor McGonagall was concerned that something had happened to this girl. Hagrid nodded grimly.

"I wouldn't be too surprised if they actually physically abused her. Though I don't know anything for sure. I do know that they were horrible ter her and I intend ter lobby with Dumbledore ter let her stay at Hogwarts over the summer, or at the very least cut the stay there short." Mr. Granger seemed less apt to defend them after that rousing description.

"Wouldn't it have been more apt to hex them, as opposed to their son?" Hagrid glared off into the distance when he heard the question.

"He was the one eating the birthday cake I brought Juniper." Professor McGonagall smiled at that.

"Good choice for a hex then. I'll be sure to keep the fact that you did it under my hat." Hagrid smiled at the professors reassurance.

"So where are you two off too?"

"We're on our way to Flourish and Blotts to meet up with Hermione and her mother, if you would like to join us?" Hagrid smiled even brighter at the invitation.

"I'd love to. It'd do Juniper good to meet another of his future professors. In fact we might be able to continue on together. The only places me and Juniper have been to were Gringotts and Flourish and Blotts. It'd give Juniper the chance to hang out with another student in her year." Professor McGonagall did a double take as she listened to Hagrid. He seemed to notice this. "Hey I come up with good ideas every once in a while." The three of them just laughed and made their way to the bookstore.

**Scene-Shift**

Jane smiled. She had never seen her daughter quite this happy. She wasn't even in the magical world for fifteen minutes and she had already made a friend. This greatly put any misgivings she had about sending her daughter to Hogwarts on the back burner.

Hermione had not been happy going to her old school, this much she knew for fact. Her school mates often teased her for being a bookworm, a know-it-all, and an assortment of other less then savory phrases that put down Hermione's intelligence. She'd have friends at this new place she was going, and Hermione would write home often, she'd make sure of that.

She'd make sure she'd have an active role in Hermione's new life.

The girl Hermione had met seemed younger then Hermione, she looked to be seven or eight, but she talked about receiving her Hogwarts letter so that put her at least at eleven years of age. She was also incredibly shy in contrast to Hermione's fairly loud nature, but she was still braving the full Hermione rant. The girl was interesting, to say the least.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she saw her husband arrive with one of the largest individuals she had ever seen.

"Hello Adam, Professor McGonagall, tell me, who's your friend here?" Mrs. Granger looked up as she said this. Hagrid offered his hand before introducing himself.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." Hagrid looked as proud as any individual could be at this statement.

"He's guiding another first year by the name of Juniper and offered to travel with us. Apparently she likes books as much as out little Hermione does. There about as far as we are and he offered to travel with us." Mrs. Granger just smiled as her husband said this.

"Would that little girl be about yay high, bushy red hair, and a set of old taped up glasses on her face?" Hagrid nodded at the discription.

"Yep, that's her."

"Let me guess, our little Hermione has already met the girl and is dragging her to various parts of the bookstore." Mr. Granger asked with a confident smirk on his face. Mrs. Granger nodded before speaking.

"There really isn't much dragging involved. She's following her to the various parts willingly. I'd like us to talk with the shopkeeper about a few books that he might recommend for people new to the magical world. Is Juniper from a non-magical family as well? She could benefit from them." Hagrid's mood seemed to shift downward a bit at the question.

"She was raised by muggles, so she should benefit from the readings for muggle-borns, hadn't thought of that. I keep thinkin' that just because her parents were magical she'd know everything there is to know about the magical world. I should probly tell her about the platform 'fore I forget again." Mrs. Granger suddenly understood the shift in Hagrid's mood.

"What happened to her parents?" Mr. Granger asked almost immediately. Mrs. Granger face palmed at her husbands lack of tact.

"You're going to hear about it eventually which is why I'm telling you now. Hagrid tends to get a bit emotional towards the end. A few years ago we had a wizard that went bad. He started collecting followers and led attacks on wizards and witches. Many people were scared to even leave there homes. Juniper's parents were a part of a movement that openly stood against him. Lord Voldemort, as he took to calling himself," The Grangers noticed Hagrid visibly tensing at his name. "decided to make an example of them. They attacked the Potter family with the intent of wiping them out. He had killed Juniper's father and mother but when he turned his wand on Juniper, the spell he used rebounded, killing the dark lord and leaving a scar on Juniper's forehead." Mrs. McGonagall had a sad smile on her face as she explained this. Hagrid was dabbing at both of his eyes with a huge handkerchief.

"So this Voldemort person was basically a terrorist, who exactly did he target." Professor McGonagall looked worried when Mrs. Granger asked this.

"Although he and his followers killed many witches and wizards, his primary targets were witches and wizards born to muggle families and their sympathizers." The Grangers went ghostly pale at the prospect Professor McGonagall proposed.

"Hermione isn't still affected by this, is she?" Was the almost immediate question asked by both parents. The professor's frown remained firmly on her face as she answered.

"Pureblooded bigotry still exists in some of the older families, but a good ninety percent of the magical world doesn't believe in it. Now then let's find us those books. If we talk anymore we won't have enough time left to shop." The Grangers nodded as they went to find the store clerk.

**Scene-Shift**

Hermione and Juniper had found at least fifteen different books on things that looked interesting. They quickly realized that some of the books were a little more difficult to read then others. Not in the fact that they were to advanced, but the fact that they couldn't get them to open or they actually tried to physically attack them.

"Why do you think they made the book violent?" Hermione asked in the calmest voice she could muster after trying to look at The Monster Book of Monsters.

"Maybe th-the st-stuff in th-the book is d-dangerous." Juniper said. "M-maybe we c-could ask s-someone if th-they know why th-the b-book is v-volatile." Hermione sighed.

"I doubt if they'd tell a pair of little kids like us anything. Did we get all the books we need for school?" Hermione asked.

"I ch-checked the l-list. We h-have e-everything but History of M-Magic. Maybe we c-could get a c-copy of H-Hogwarts a H-history while we're o-over th-there." Juniper said.

Hermione picked up a book before nodding at Juniper. "I think that that's a splendid idea. I think it might be a good idea to pick up a couple of books on magical law as well, just to make sure we aren't breaking any, and maybe a few books on prominent figures in magical history." Hermione proposed innocently. Juniper looked a little pale at this but thought it would be a good idea.

"I-I th-think th-that that w-would b-be a g-great idea." Juniper replied warily. She'd have to tell Hermione about her _'fame' _eventually. Hermione took off to the history section with Juniper in hot pursuit.

"So why do all of the people stare at you as we walk by anyway?" Juniper paled even further at the question.

"I d-did something w-when I was a b-baby th-that a l-lot of people r-really l-like me for. I-it happened on th-the night th-that my p-parents w-were killed." Hermione looked a little meek when Juniper said this.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I-It's not your f-fault." Juniper said. "I d-don't like t-to talk a-about it. I live w-with my a-aunt and u-u-uncle." Hermione noticed the difficulty Juniper had with saying uncle but didn't say anything. She just assumed that Juniper was having a hard time talking about her parents.

"I'm guessing your aunt and uncle are both muggles like my parents, right?" Hermione inquired.

"Th-They d-didn't t-tell me how my p-parents d-died or th-that th-they were a wizard and a witch until Hagrid c-came."

"And shame on them for not saying anything." Both girls jumped about a full foot in the air when Hagrid's boisterous voice resounded from behind them.

"H-Hagrid! Please d-don't scare me l-like that. Hermione th-this is H-Hagrid." Hermione didn't say anything in response. She just looked up and mumbled incoherently. "You seem to have th-that affect on p-people." Hagrid just laughed at that.

"Good afternoon to ya Hermione. Don't worry, I won't bite." Hermione finally shook herself out of her stupor to shake the giant's hand. "Now then, Juniper, how would you like to continue shopping with yer new friend here. I met her parents and Professor McGonagall and we're at about the same place on our lists." Juniper openly beamed at this and nodded her head vigorously. Hagrid bit back a chuckle.

"We just n-need to p-pick up a few more books and we'll b-be set." Hagrid smiled outwardly and groaned inwardly at the girl's response.

"I'll wait for ya by the door then." Was the short reply before he left. Hermione looked really happy to be able to spend more time with her new friend and Juniper smiled really big when she looked back at Hermione. It was nice to finally have a friend.

**Scene-Shift**

Juniper really liked Mr. and Mrs. Granger. They were both really nice to her and seemed to like her. Mrs. Granger reminded her a lot of Hermione and Mr. Granger helped her with the giant pile of books she got. She looked a bit sheepish when she saw how big her pile was and thankful for his help, he said he was used to hauling around large loads of books.

Professor McGonagall was also nice, she noticed that we were struggling a bit coming out of the bookstore and gave us each something to help.

"These bags are enchanted, they'll carry everything you put in them and will only fell like you put a single book inside. It should make things a bit easier. I'd advise against putting in something breakable. I think our next stop should be to get you girls set up with a uniform. Madam Malkin's would be the best place to go for that. Then will get you your wands." Hermione and Juniper both smiled at the professor. That was something they were both looking forward to.

"What about our other supplies, professor?" Hermione asked. Hagrid spoke up at this.

"I'll be getting that stuff for ya while yer gettin' fitted for your school robes. I'll be back by the time you get done." Hagrid replied.

"We'll be going with him, I'm sure we don't want Hagrid to feel like our pack mule." said Mr. Granger, indicating both him and Mrs. Granger

Hagrid smiled at this. The three left them and entered the quill shop. Juniper, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall continued down the road, Hermione had taken hold of Juniper's hand. Before they reached Madam Malkin's, Juniper started getting a little nervous. She didn't want Hermione to see the scars on her back.

"P-Professor McGonagall, we d-don't have t-to t-take our clothes off for th-the fitting, do we?" Professor McGonagall gave Juniper a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Juniper, the robes are meant to be worn over your clothes. Even if you did you would do so in a private changing room. Haven't you ever been fitted for other clothes?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Hermione saw Juniper look a little nervous and quickly jumped to her friend's defense. "I'm sure Juniper just wanted to be sure we wouldn't see her in all of her glory. I've never been fitted for anything either. It's a relief to be sure." Hermione gave Juniper a reassuring smile.

"R-right, what Hermione said." was the clipped response that came from Juniper's mouth. Professor McGonagall frowned before looking up and seeing that they had arrived at their destination. She ushered them in and handed them off to Madam Malkin, who took them to the girl's fitting room, where they were greeted by a rather angry looking girl being fitted by one of the assistants.

She was short, only a few inches taller the Juniper. She had short brown hair and cold, piercing brown eyes. She was being fitted for what looked to be very fancy silk robes and her face was contorted in a horrendous scowl; it was very reminiscent to that of a pug's face.

"YEOUCH, For the love of Merlin will you stop sticking me with that needle." Hermione and Juniper both covered their ears at the screech.

"I'm sorry, perhaps if you were a bit less tense…" The attendant was cut off before she could finish speaking.

"Excuse me! Are you trying to say it's my fault that you're turning me into a human pincushion? Oh, hi, you two don't look familiar." The speed in which she changed moods gave Juniper a brief feeling of whiplash. Hermione was the first to speak as she was sized up for her robes.

"We aren't from around here." Hermione said evasively. Juniper just nodded. The girl reminded her to much of Dudley for her to want to say too much. Hermione remembered the girls that always pranked her at school.

"Well that's apparent by the way you dress, you look like a pair of muggles." The girl sounded disgusted as she said this. "My name is Pansy, Pansy Parkinson."

"Hermione Granger."

"J-Juniper."

"So where exactly are your parents, I saw you come in with Professor McGonagall, were your parents busy or something." Juniper seemed to visibly sadden at the question. Hermione noticed this and spoke up, hoping to keep Juniper from answering.

"They're at the quill shop. We figured we'd split up so we could get done with everything quicker." The girl looked confused at Herione's explanation.

"But if your parents are here, than why is Professor McGonagall with you?" Juniper spoke very timidly.

"M-My p-parents couldn't be here. Th-they d-died when I was a b-baby." She didn't say too much beyond that.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She didn't sound overly sorry, nor did it look like it affected her too much. "But they were at least our kind, right. You know a witch and a wizard."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hermione looked livid. Pansy was about to explain before they were interrupted.

"Alright my dears, finished." Juniper and Hermione just smiled at Mrs. Malkin and quickly made to leave.

"I'll see you at school then, try to get into Slytherin house, the rest are absolute rubbish." Pansy shouted this asthe two of them left. Hermione rushed Juniper out and reconvened with Professor McGonagall.

"Whatever we do when we get to Hogwarts, we need to make sure that we stay away from Slytherin. I am not sharing a dorm room with that person." Hermione looked absolutely furious. Juniper only nodded in silence.

"Why do you want to stay away from Slytherin, and how do you know of the houses in the first place?" Professor McGonagall asked. She hadn't said anything about the houses yet. She wanted it to be a surprise, that way they'd get unbiased results.

"We were talking to a girl in Madam Malkin's. She was annoying and really stuck up. She said her name was Pansy Parkinson." Professor McGonagall just nodded in understanding.

"You just met one of the heirs to a pureblood family. Slytherin is one of four houses at Hogwarts. A lot of the children of pureblood elites end up in Slytherin because their parents were. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. You'll be sorted into one of the four houses upon arriving at Hogwarts." Juniper started to look worried as the professor explained. She might get separated from Hermione just after meeting her. She was her first friend, her only friend, and she wanted to stay close to her.

"Ah, there they are. Professor McGonagall!" Juniper was brought out of her thoughts by Mr. Granger as he made his way over to the three of them with Hagrid and Mrs. Granger in tow.

"Good, now that we're all here, we can get ye yer first wands. The both of you for in for a treat. Olivander's is always a fun place to go to." They were ushered off to get there first wands before they had a chance to continue their conversation.

**Scene-Shift**

Olivander's had been around for decades. People often told stories about getting their first wands from the old wand maker. He was odd, eccentric, and always made sure you left his shop with a lifelong companion. 'The wand chooses the wizard,' as he always said. He had helped people find wands before Grindlewald came to power. Parent's told their children about it, and many wouldn't be comfortable getting a wand from anyone else.

Another think that endeared him to the wizarding population was his ability recall the intimate details about every wand he sold. He told the kids that came into his shop about the wands their parents had.

Olivander was a very old man. He had long gray hair and sported a pair of pale eyes that shone with a hue reminiscent of the full moon in the night sky. He had a great many wrinkles upon his face and wore a very old jacket over his shirt and tie. His shop was dimly lit and had rows upon rows of wands in beside his desk. He heard the ding of his door and rose to greet his customers. He was shocked at who he met.

"Good afternoon." Both of the girls before him jumped about a foot in the air. "I was wondering when I would see you, Juniper Potter. You look so very much like your mother. It seems like only yesterday that she came in here for her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches, swishy, made of willow. An excellent wand for Charm work." Juniper blinked, this was the same person that sold her mother her wand. Maybe she'd get lucky and he'd have a picture of her.

"Your father, on the other hand, was chosen by a mahogany wand. Eleven inches, pliable, a little more power, and excellent for Transfiguration." Mr. Olivander had gotten closer to Juniper as he explained. They were almost nose to nose when he gazed at his scar.

"And that's where…" Mr. Olivander frowned. "I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it. Thirteen and a half inches, powerful, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… if I had known what that little wand was going out into the world to do…" He looked thoughtful as he gazed over to look at Hermione.

"You look new. I always get excited when I get a witch or wizard born from muggles. It's like I'm branching out into a new family of wands that will one day come and grace me with their presence. We all started out like that you know, though people seem to forget that. Your name, miss." Hermione gave a weak smile to the silver orbs.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger." Mr. Olivander smiled at her.

"Well let's get you two sized up." He pulled out a long tape measure with silver markings. "Which is your wand arm?" He pointed his attention to Hermione first.

"I'm left handed." Hermione said simply.

"Hold out your arm." Hermione did as instructed and Mr. Olivander started measuring her. He went down the third row and took a box from it. He returned and presented it to Hermione.

"Try this then. Ten and three-fourths inches, vine wood, with a dragon heartstring core. A rather all purpose wand, sure to aid you in whatever you need." Hermione took the wand and felt warm. A light blue aura enveloped.

"Splendid, a perfect fit. I expect you'll do quite well at Hogwarts. That wand is a very good wand to experiment spells with. Be sure to be open-minded with its various applications. Now then shall we see what wand will choose you, Miss Potter?" Mr. Olivander's attention shifted to Juniper.

Juniper shook herself out of her stuper; she was still amazed from Hermione's wand choosing her. Juniper doubted if hers would be that amazing.

"W-well, I'm r-right handed." She offered weakly. She raised her arm like Hermione did and watched as Mr. Olivander got another wand from the shelf.

"Why don't we try this one?" He handed it to Juniper and almost snatched it back the second she grabbed it. "No, no that's not quite right." He retreated to get another wand and repeated the process, again, and again, and again. Juniper was worried, what if she didn't have a wand would she have to go back to her aunt and uncle's. Mr. Olivander was the opposite it seemed. The more wands she went through, the more excited he looked.

"Not to worry, not to worry. There has never been an individual that I haven't found a partner for." Mr. Olivander got a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm… I wonder…" Hermione couldn't resist asking at this point.

"You wonder what?" Mr. Olivander seemed to ignore the question and reached over to pick up a very old looking wand box. He blew the dust off.

"Try this one, Miss Potter. Eleven inches, made of holly, with a phoenix feather as the core." Juniper took the wand and was engulfed in a strange gold hue. Hermione raised a hand to her mouth and looked on in beauty as she saw it playing out. Mr. Olivander applauded.

"Yes, glorious Miss Potter, glorious. This is definitely the wand for you." Mr. Olivander looked thoughtful at this statement before uttering a single word. "Curious…" Juniper looked over Mr. Olivander.

"W-what's c-curious, sir?" Juniper asked nervously.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. The phoenix that gave the feather in your wand gave another feather. Just one other. It's curious to me Miss Potter that you would be destined for this wand, when its brother was the one that gave you that scar." Juniper went several shades paler and felt a little ill. "I think we can expect great things from you Miss Potter, after all, he-who-must-not –be-named did great things, horrible yes, but great…" Juniper just left before Mr. Olivander could say anything more, she wanted to get out of that place. Hermione gave Olivander his money for the wands before following after her worriedly.

**A/N-That's that, and man it took a while to write all of that. I just wanted to get all of there school shopping done. It'll be more Hermione and Juniper next chapter I promise you that. It should be up before the end of the week. Be sure to Review.**


	4. Chapter 3

**The Life of Juniper Potter**

**Chapter 3**

**A Brief Parting**

**A/N-Wow, I got a positive response on this. More than six hundred people read the first three chapters. It's been out for about a day and you welcome it with great aplomb and enthusiasm. **

"**I thank dbzgtfan2004 and knightwolf20x for leaving a review, but I'm feeling ever so greedy."**

**Lila smacks me upside the head, "Use your own lines." **

"**Right, so please be sure to leave behind your comments and constructive criticism."**

**Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.**

Juniper ran as fast as she possibly could. She ran past the four adults she was traveling with, the onlookers, and the people that just instinctively seemed to like her. She didn't get it. Why did they like her? No one liked her at home. She wasn't anything special, she just got lucky. That was it. They'd probably think differently when they found out what kind of wand she had.

What was bad was getting this wand in particular. Why of all the wands in that shop, did she get the one with dark relations? They'd probably think she'd go evil now or something. She continued to run until she got to a space between shops. She could rest there, it was hidden and out of the way.

Hermione…

She didn't tell the girl anything about Voldemort. How she was supposedly marked for death by someone that's 'sort of' dead. She didn't know. She probably just felt that she left her there.

"W-Why d-did I have t-to g-get you as a w-wand!" she growled as she glared down at her wand. "You c-could've c-come from anywhere e-else in th-the world, so why d-do you sh-share a r-relation to _h-him."_

"Who's this 'him' that your muttering about?" She turned around to see a very out of breath Hermione. "And how, can anyone run that fast. It shouldn't be physically possible." Juniper laughed a little bit despite herself.

"P-Practice." Was the single evasive reply.

"Okay, now answer the first question please. Why did you run out earlier? I'm guessing this person was responsible for your parent's deaths." Juniper only nodded slowly, she reluctantly began explaining just who 'him' was.

"H-his name was V-V-Voldemort. He was r-responsible for k-killing a lot of p-people." Juniper looked to be on the verge of tears. "He t-tried to kill my p-parents and m-me when I was a-a b-baby. He k-killed th-them, but when he t-tried to kill me, his s-spell b-bounced b-back and h-hit him." Juniper looked down at her own wand. "M-Mr. Olivander s-said it was th-the wand th-that chooses th-the wizard. What is it th-that th-this wand saw th-that made it p-pick me. W-Why would something l-like th-this choose me?"

Hermione smiled gently at her friend. "Juniper you're one of the nicest people I've ever met and my first friend, I think that wand picked you so you could redeem its brother for all the bad things his master made it do." Juniper just stared at her, unable to form words to say back. "I'm sure that it saw you would only use it for good things, as opposed to what the other one did. You're a very, very nice person, I doubt if you could ever do something 'evil'." Juniper gripped her wand tightly. Still staring at it tentatively. A few tears had fallen down her cheeks.

"H-Hagrid told me th-that one of th-the good th-things about th-that night was th-that I didn't r-remember seeing him. It wasn't something th-that I wanted t-to remember. He was right t-to. It isn't something you w-want t-to relive." Hermione made a move to get closer to Juniper. The girl was looking to the ground as she said this to Hermione.

"I've h-had a recurring n-nightmare since I w-was r-really s-small, a-as far back as I can r-remember. I'm s-sitting o-on th-the g-ground o-of a nursery a-and th-there's a s-someone th-that l-looks a l-lot like me st-standing over me, t-telling me e-everything's g-going to be okay. Th-the door b-burst open t-to one o-of the m-most t-terrifying th-things I've ever s-seen." Hermione had a feeling she knew what this particular dream was, she really wished that it was just a dream.

"The th-thing in th-the door m-moved c-closer with a w-wand in his h-hand. H-He t-told th-the person t-to move aside so he c-can k-kill me. The w-woman is sh-shouting. '_N-no, n-not Juniper, t-take me, k-kill me instead._' A b-bright g-green light leaves th-the piece of w-wood and the w-woman f-falls over, l-looking very s-still." Hermione was horrified at this point but didn't show it. She knew that this happened when she was a baby, but Hermione wasn't entirely sure if she could live through something like that.

"Th-The th-thing in th-the door p-pointed his w-wand at me, h-he laughed as th-the same g-green light th-that k-killed the one l-lady came from his w-wand. I always w-woke up a-at that p-part. I c-could never s-see what h-happened n-next." Hermione was now very close to Juniper now. "I d-don't ever w-want to do anything l-like th-that." Hermione hugged Juniper right after she had said this statement.

"And I know for a fact that you never will."Hermione said in her know-it-all voice. Juniper tried to struggle out of the hold for a brief second before giving in and just leaning against Hermione. They stayed like that until Juniper agreed to go back the Grangers, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall.

**Scene Shift**

Professor McGonagall was starting to get worried. It had been a good fifteen minutes since Hermione had followed Juniper off to part's unknown. Juniper had looked extremely distressed when she had left. Hermione had told them not to follow and that she had a very good idea as to what the problem was. After Professor McGonagall talked to Olivander she understood why she reacted badly as well.

Hermione returned after a good twenty minutes. The two of them looked exhausted. Juniper was the first to speak.

"I a-apologize f-for running o-off l-like th-that. I was j-just f-feeling a b-bit overwhelmed." Juniper sounded so small when she stuttered the brief reply out.

"It's alright Juniper, happens ter the best of us sometimes." Hagrid replied gently. Juniper simply nodded and went to stand by Hagrid. Hermione followed after and engulfed her in a hug.

"Thank you for shopping with me, I'll see you on the train, right? We could share a compartment." Hermione looked really sad to see Juniper go.

"We'll m-meet up b-before we g-get on th-the t-train. D-Does th-that sound alright?" Hermione smiled brightly when Juniper said this.

"Of course it is." When they parted she went back to her parents. She said good bye one last time before Juniper left with Hagrid.

"Alright you three. We're doing this the quick way this time. I'm going to apparate us back to your house. Be forewarned, you may throw up the first time you do this." The Grangers paled at this. "Alright then, grab my hands, come on then." The three of them grabbed a hold of McGonagall. A brief crack later and all that was left behind was a small amount of smoke.

**Scene-Shift**

"I think I'm going to be sick." Mr. Granger was on the ground clutching his stomach. He was desperately making his way to the bathroom, trying to avoid hurling in the living room. He had the weakest stomach of the three. Mrs. Granger was on the couch trying to recompose herself, Hermione was standing very shakily beside Professor McGonagall, and Professor McGonagall was standing upright in the middle of the room.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad. You just have to get used to it." Mrs. Granger visibly blanched at the idea.

"Ah-ah, no way, I am never doing that again." Mr. Granger shouted. Professor McGonagall frowned.

"It felt like I was being squeezed through a very small tube. Isn't there anyway you can make the trip more enjoyable." Asked Mrs. Granger. She looked like she was starting to get her color back.

"Each time you apparate, your body get more used to the rapid transport. It isn't that bad for other means of magical transportation because they use mediums. Apparating is just teleporting from one place to another. I'll go ahead and link your house to the Floo network. We can contact you directly from the school with this." Professor McGonagall moved to the fireplace and waved her wand. The fire burned green for a few moments before dying back down to its natural orange flame. She handed my mom a jar of green power.

"You throw a bit of this into the fire and say the name of the place you want to go. Say it clearly. The flames will rise and burn green, just like what you saw earlier. This will only work if the place you want to go is connected to the Floo network. When it burns green, you can either walk through to go there, or you can stick your head in the flames to talk with the people there." Hermione and Mrs. Granger nodded. Paying attention so that they could explain all of the details to Mr. Granger when he was feeling better.

"Know that Floos that aren't public have screening on them. You can see who's trying to come through and choose to accept or deny the person entry. If you wish to speak with me, you can contact me by naming 'Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall's office.' I will try to help in any way I can." Mrs. Granger smiled and thanked Professor McGonagall for doing this.

"I'll make sure Hermione doesn't call unless the question can't wait until she gets to Hogwarts." Hermione looked both indignant and insulted at her mother's insinuation and crossed her arms in a huff. Both her mother and Professor McGonagall laughed.

"You get onto the Hogwarts Express by running straight at the brick barrier between platforms nine and ten." I look forward to seeing you at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said goodbye before using the floo she just made to return to Hogwarts.

**Scene Shift**

Mr. and Mrs. Granger were both getting ready for bed. Hermione was in her room, eyes glued to one of the many books they had gotten at Flourish and Blotts. Adam looked to his wife before speaking.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing in sending Hermione to this school?" Mr. Granger looked unsure as he spoke.

"You saw how happy she was, I've never seen her like that before. It was like all of her troubles went out the door when Professor McGonagall came in and told her she was a witch." Mrs. Granger looked off to the side, away from her husband.

"It just seems weird, sending your daughter away at eleven. It's so far away too." Mr. Granger rebutted.

"With Professor McGonagall connecting us to the floo network and owls, we'll be able to talk with her every day. We could even go through and visit if things were bad." Mrs. Granger looked a little unsure.

"She isn't happy at her current school. I know she's still being bullied, even though she tries to hide it. She came home early today and was taking a shower when we got here. I'm certain that they did something to her that she had to leave school for. She already has a friend at Hogwarts." Mrs. Granger looked determined at this statement. Mr. Granger visibly saddened at the mention of Juniper.

"That girl looked entirely too small for her age. Hagrid said that her aunt and uncle had prejudices against magic in general. The fact that they knew what she was before they took her in, makes me shudder to think of what they put her through." Mrs. Granger raised her hand to her mouth at what Mr. Granger was insinuating.

"You don't think… to their own family…" Mrs. Granger said in a slight state of shock.

"I doubt if it really mattered to them that much." Mr. Granger looked thoughtful. "Getting a Hogwarts letter was probably the best thing that ever happened to her. Something to help her get away from her _'family'_." Mr. Granger seemed to just barely choke out the word family. He seemed to think of them as anything but.

"We'll just have to do our best to make her feel like she's a part of our family." Mr. Granger smiled at his wife as she said this.

"Hermione always wanted a little sister." was Mr. Granger's clipped reply.

"We won't lose Hermione to the magical world, dear. That's your main worry with sending her, isn't it? We'll be just as involved in this as she is. We'll make sure of it." Mrs. Granger smile to her husband. "Now start reading some of those books we got on the magical world."

"Yes, Hermione." Mr. Granger joked. Mrs. Granger lightly whacked him over the head with the book she was holding.

**Scene Shift**

Life at Privot Drive was startlingly different from what she was used to. The first major difference was the fact that Dudley absolutely refused to come out of his bedroom. He couldn't really talk without letting an oink, snort, or wee loose every other word for the first week, and he still had the pig tail. Uncle Vernon said he was going to take him to the hospital to get it removed before he went off to Smeltings in the fall, the same day the Hogwarts Express left for Hogwarts.

Another noticeable difference was the increased amount of space. She got to keep the bedroom! She could stretch out her legs when she slept. The four by four cupboard was perfect until she was nine, then she had to curl into ball little by little. She had difficulties moving in the morning when she slept like that.

Aunt Petunia still had me cook all the meals, but she got to eat them to. All of them, not just leftover scraps that her aunt left. Her aunt was the only one that left anything behind. Dudley and Uncle Vernon both scarfed down anything that Juniper put in front of them. The fact that she had to cook didn't bother her. She was scared of what would happen if Aunt Petunia got close to the stove.

Nobody said anything to her and she didn't say anything to them. They kept their distance and Dudley even seemed to be afraid of her a little bit. She loved this, she wasn't being called freak or running in fear anymore, it gave her time to read.

She had gone through Hogwarts a History at least three times. She wanted to make sure that she knew as much as possible when she went. She was worried that some of the other students would've been ahead of her so she went through a bunch of her school books, and she kind of read through those to. A few times actually.

Another thing she found out about were the houses. There was Gryffindor for bravery, Hufflepuff for loyalty, Ravenclaw for the intelligent, and Slytherin for the cunning. Each of them were named for a founder of Hogwarts, but it didn't mention anything about how they were sorted.

She had read through the book on Magical law, like Hermione said, and found out that it was illegal to perform magic out of school until she was a legal adult in the Magical World, she would be an adult at seventeen. She thought it would be best if her aunt and uncle knew very little about that law.

The weeks seemed to fly by at a snail's pace. She only had three days left here, than she'd be at Hogwarts with Hermione. She was a little nervous. The ticket she had only said to show up at platform nine and three-quarters, but Hagrid never said anything about how to get on the platform. He was really, really nice, but he forgot a lot of things.

She'd just have to figure it out when she got there.

**A/N-Adam and Jane are both going to have more of a part then they did in the books. I have difficulties believing that they weren't involved that much in Hermione's life at Hogwarts. It seems odd to me. Yes Hagrid still forgot to tell her how to get on to the platform. I wanted to give you a feel for their home life. Please review I got tons of favorites and alerts but very few of you reviewed.**


	5. Chapter 4

**The Life of Juniper Potter**

**Chapter 4**

**A trip on the Hogwarts Express**

**A/N- It took a little longer to update than I had intended, but I finally finished this chapter. I also took some of this time to refine some of my earlier chapters. If you see mistakes in any of my chapters, or have issues with my writing style, bring these points to my attention. I may or may not take your advice, but I'll always go back and fix POV mistakes, spelling mistakes, grammar problems, and other things that would make this story better for future readers. Also, anyone willing to beta this story, please, PM me. It'd be nice to have a second opinion before posting things.**

**If you left an anonymous review, see below.**

**omn-Some of that rehashed story is necessary for the retelling. The subtle differences in the scenes are very important to take note of, especially during the leaky cauldron scene. I do cut some less then important stuff out and most of what's left is important in some way. The cabin scene is just a really good place to come in at. It also helps me work on characterization and setting the scene. It's something that I need to work on as a writer.**

**Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.**

Dumbledore wasn't having the best of days.

Hagrid and Minerva were coming by soon to see what he had found out, but he honestly found nothing to show a truly abusive home. He had sent Arabella Figg to look after Juniper throughout the years and all she had noticed was that the girl was a bit small for her age. When they arrived back earlier that month, he though additional supervision might be prudent. He had sent her an invisibility cloak, one that would last through the month. He had charmed it himself and it would fool the muggles and Juniper.

She hadn't really reported back of anything overly concerning. The general feel in the house was apathy. Juniper got three meals, even if she was the one that cooked. Hagrid had told him that the food her Aunt Petunia made tasted like the charred dragon hide gloves. Dumbledore himself frequently made things like that at Juniper's age; Aberforth couldn't cook to save his life.

Juniper spent most of her time in her room reading the books she got at Flourish and Blotts, Petunia was trying to coax their son to come out of his room, something about a pig's tail, and Vernon just seemed to go to work and came back it seemed. It was almost a little disconcerting how quiet it was.

The gargoyle that guarded his room slowly began to shift and Hagrid began to make his way up the spiral staircase. Minerva followed in behind him shortly thereafter, leaving very little room for movement.

"Ah, Hagrid, Minerva, would you care for a lemon drop? It's a new muggle candy that I found and I must admit that they are quite good." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly as he asked; sweets always made everything a little better.

"No thank you, Albus." Minerva shook her head no, as did Hagrid.

"Has Arabella found anything worth mentioning?" Hagrid asked. Dumbledore nodded his head no.

"Alas, I feel we are looking for something that isn't there. The Dursleys are apathetic to Juniper, but it doesn't seem to go beyond that. I agree that that really isn't that grand for her growth, but it's better than living in fear of death eater attacks." Dumbledore looked solemn at this. He was hoping that Juniper would have a happy normal life for as long as possible.

"Perhaps a compromise then, if Juniper were to remain with her aunt and uncle three weeks out of the year, then the blood protections would continue to protect her from harm at the hands of you-know-who and his followers. We would have her be raised in a home that would have people that care about her. That should placate everyone for the most part, wouldn't you say Hagrid?" Minerva wasn't overly happy about this, but it was better than nothing. She hated the Dursleys. Both Hagrid and Dumbledore nodded in a positive response.

"If nothing else, Arabella could watch her. You said that Juniper seemed terrified when she got her wand, Minerva?" Dumbledore inquired with a slightly brighter twinkle.

"Yes, Albus." Minerva replied briefly. "She had run out of the store as fast as she could. Hermione was the one that managed to drag her back so that we could assure her everything was alright. Do you have a solution for this Albus?"

"I think I know of a way to reassure her that her wand isn't evil." Dumbledore smiled as he looked up to Fawkes. "Now both of you get ready for today's proceedings; we need to make sure the first years feel welcomed."

**Scene-Shift**

Juniper was sitting on a bench by the platform. Her aunt and uncle had just dropped her off. She arrived at the platforms between nine and ten. She had tried everything that she could think short of running at the walls and looking like an idiot when she crashed. The person that helped tell people where to go looked at her weird when she asked. He thought that she was having a go at him when she asked about platform nine and three quarters.

And she couldn't really blame him. What brilliant mind thought to put the route to Hogwarts in a muggle train station?

Her mind was swirling. Did this mean she wouldn't get to see Hermione again? That she'd have to go back to the Dursleys?

No…

There had to be some way to get onto that platform. There just had to! She could wait and someone would come to get onto the train, she could watch them, see how they did it.

"Honestly…" was the shrill sound that echoed over the crowd. "…packed with muggles! Does everyone remember the platform?" She sounded close.

Juniper looked up to see a rather large, red haired family. Each member wearing robes reminiscent of her own. There were four boys with carts filled to the brim with stuff for Hogwarts. The two girls were without; one looking like their mother and the other she assumed was too young. Juniper knew what the answer would be before the young red-haired girl replied.

"Nine and three-quarters!" the little girl cried out eagerly. Juniper looked up, happy to have found someone. "Are you sure I can't go this year mom? It'll be so lonely at the house this year."

"At least you two will have each other," Said one of two boys that looked exactly alike.

"And dad, assuming." said the other one.

"He doesn't blow himself up in the garage." The two seemed to alternate speech with one another. It was giving Juniper a headache.

"Could we hurry this up, I need to get to the prefect car early for the meeting." This came from the boy that looked the oldest. His was the only cart with an owl. The pair of twins took this moment to speak up.

"Good god, Percy. You made prefect."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Hold up dear brother, I think he may have told us once,"

"twice," The two twins paused for a brief moment and both looked thoughtful before they both uniformly said the same thing.

"All summer."

"You two, stop pestering your brother." Their mother chided. "Percy, you're the oldest, you go first."

The boy simply nodded before running at the barrier. He disappeared through the brick wall. Juniper's eyes bugged. So you did need to run straight at the wall. How? She put her hand on the barrier. It was just as solid as any other brick. She had to speak up and ask the strangers how they did it. She did her hair up to hide her scar before she moved in to speak.

"Umm… e-excuse me," The mother and the rest of the children looked over to see her. She shrunk back a little at the attention. She was getting a bit better with it. She managed to keep her ground and speak. "I noticed th-that you w-were t-talking about H-Hogwarts and I was w-wondering…"

"How to get onto the platform?" finished the mother of the group. "Don't worry dear, it's Ron's first year as well. I'm Molly Weasley, that's Fred and George, and the little girl standing by Ron is Ginny."

"J-Juniper." was what she managed get out. The smaller boy just raised his hand to say hi. The twins just looked flabbergasted.

"Dear lord," was the reply of the first twin.

"It's a long lost Weasley."

Their mother just rolled her eyes. "It's really quite simple. All, you have to do is run straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Fred, George, care to demonstrate."

"Bye Ginny."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"The hell you are…!" Before Mrs. Weasley could say anything else, the two had disappeared beyond the barrier. "Oh well then… after you dear. It's best to start at a run if you're nervous."

Juniper nodded before sprinting at the barrier. Mrs. Weasley noticed a brief blur and then there was nothing where Juniper once stood.

**Scene-Shift**

Hermione had just got out of the car and got all of her things together. They had about half an hour left until her train left. Her trunk was filled to the brim with all of her clothes and robes and she had gotten a cart from the front desk for her school supplies.

While doing this, Hermione's thoughts wandered to the idea that this all seemed a little conspicuous to the muggles that were gazing on. She had the sense of forethought to pack her stuff into smaller bags, but she was almost positive that people from magical families would have had some things out that would look odd. Cauldrons, owls, not to mention what they would be wearing would make them look weird to any muggle bystanders.

She had read that muggles weren't supposed to find out about magic, but they didn't exactly do that great of a job in hiding certain things. She guessed that it wasn't really something you noticed until you were let in on the secret.

She began to get nervous when she got closer to the platform. The 'running right at a brick wall' thing seemed bizarre, it was another thing that seemed odd. Wouldn't people notice someone running at a wall and disappearing? She had read about the express in Hogwarts a History, but she didn't read anything about the barrier. Did it have charms on it?

They had finally arrived at the barrier between platforms nine and ten and were promptly greeted by a set of three people with red hair. She deflated a bit when she realized that neither one of them were Juniper. She'd probably have to find her once she got on the platform.

"Now Hermione, I want you to write home every week, you here. You can borrow Juniper's owl if she'll let you. Tell her not to be so shy with us either. It's perfectly alright for her to send letters to us to." Her mother looked like she was close to going into a nervous breakdown. This was the first time that she had been away from home for so long.

"I'll be sure to let her know, I'm going to miss you to mom. You don't have to worry; I have every intention of writing to you as often as I can." She gave both of parents a hug before she turned toward the barrier. She noticed that the boy had gone through and it was just the two girls with red hair. The little girl spoke up before she made to run towards the wall.

"Excuse me, but would this Juniper be a little shorter then me, with red hair similar to me and my mum's?"

Hermione nodded blankly at the question in stunned silence. "Have you seen her?"

The little girl nodded. "She needed help getting through the barrier, she seemed really, really shy. Two of my brothers claimed her as a long lost Weasley when they saw her hair was the same color as ours. She seemed to relax a little after that. She went in a few seconds before Ron did."

"Thank you." Hermione had a really big smile on her face. This might be easier then she thought. She ran straight at the barrier, her nervousness forgotten, only to run into some one on the other side.

**Scene Shift**

Juniper watched in stunned silence as Hermione ran through the barrier and straight into Ron. Once the shock of seeing Hermione wore off, Juniper had to fight to keep from joining them on the ground in laughter. The twins didn't seem to share her restraint.

"Trust our brother"

"to not have the brains"

"to get out from in front of the wall"

"before opening his mouth to talk."

Juniper took this moment to go to Hermione to help her up. "Y-you really n-need t-to be more c-careful, Hermione."

Hermione looked up and smiled before grabbing her hand. "I was just in a bit of a hurry. The girl with red hair told me that you hadn't gone in that long ago. I wanted to catch up." Juniper smiled before turning to gaze at Ron and his brothers just standing over him.

"Little brother, writhing in agony over here." was the pained response that came from Ron's mouth. She thought it sounded a little fake, but Hermione thought that she had done something horrible. The twins spoke before she could move from her spot beside Juniper.

"Oh, don't be such a crybaby."

"You've suffered worse from our pranks,"

"Unintentionally, of course."

"than you have with that little tap."

"Which would you like to be remembered as,"

"The wizard that was taken out by an eleven year old girl,"

"Or the wizard that was taken out by a shopping cart." finished Fred, or George; She wasn't entirely sure which was which. Ron perked up a bit and slowly got to his feet he was rubbing his arm a little.

"I'm really, really sorry about running into you." Hermione bowed her head a bit.

"It's alright." was Ron's reply as he slowly got up off the ground.

"Ickle Ronniekins shouldn't have been standing in front of the barrier."

"You tend to get run over as the next person comes through." Juniper was starting to get a headache again; too many people were trying to carry on the same conversation.

"I'm guessing you know her." Ron inquired. Juniper nodded but Hermione spoke before she had the chance to.

"We met in Diagon Alley and shopped for school supplies together. She was with a really big guy by the name of Hagrid and my parents and I were with Professor McGonagall. We met at the book store and our magical guardians thought it would make things easier if we did our shopping together." Hermione surmised.

"W-what she s-said." Juniper confirmed.

"I can wager a guess to say we have"

"A pair of muggle-born firsties." Both of the twins looked entirely too happy with this.

"Being a muggle-born isn't a bad thing, of course."

"But some people might not see it that way."

"We wish to offer you a since of protection."

"The first ponce you meet that decides"

"to make something of the fact that your muggle born"

"Give him one of these to show them the error of his or her ways." The twins pulled out a small bag of candies. Hermione looked appalled.

"I refuse to take part in something like that. I refuse to break school rules before we even get into Hogwarts. Honestly, Juniper isn't even muggle-born, she was just muggle raised." Juniper wanted Hermione to stop talking; she didn't want these people to know this stuff yet. She wanted to be normal for as long as humanly possible.

"H-Hermione, I'm n-nor r-really th-that comfortable t-talking about th-that." The statement seemed to work. Hermione looked down a bit before apologizing.

"I just get into these things where I go into lecture mode. I forget about everyone and everything else around me. I'm just glad you stopped me before I said something stupid." Hermione replied mournfully. "It's how I seemed to lose any friends I got when I was at school. I want you promise me that you'll try your best to stop me when I do something like that."

"You wound us greatly" came the quick, mock reply of one of the twins.

"Implying that we would do something as break school rules before going to school,"

"Implies that we have to wait"

"Until we get to Hogwarts"

"To cause trouble." The twins were laughing a bit at the end.

"Don't apologize, the idiots need scolding." The twins feigned hurt at their brothers supposed betrayal. Ron ignored them. "They test their products on me, there to terrified of what Ginny would do to them in retaliation. I can tell you exactly what these guys do because they had to experiment on someone else. The only thing it'll do is give them a head of Weasley red hair." Hermione just turned away from the candy and went to make her way towards the train.

"We need to hurry up, the train will leave without us." said Hermione. Juniper hurried to catch up, but not before taking a few of the candies and stashing them in her pocket. Just in case someone said something mean to Hermione. She didn't notice that her bangs got brushed back and her scar was made visible to the rest of the world. She ran off, leaving the Weasleys in stunned silence. She did hear the last words that came from Ron's mouth though.

"Was that Juniper _Potter?_" When she heard that, she caught up with Hermione and urged her to hurry behind her.

**Scene-Shift**

Finding an empty compartment was actually way easier then she thought it would be. She thought the train would be packed this close to departure. It was about three from the back. She didn't really mind if they shared with others, but Juniper wanted it to be a little more secluded.

"So, any reason you wanted to get as far away from the Weasleys as possible all of a sudden. They seemed nice, though I don't really like pranksters." She had bad experiences with pranks.

"I th-think th-they saw my s-scar. I wanted t-to leave before th-they st-started asking me the mandatory questions th-that people will eventually a-ask." Juniper looked down as she said this, away from Hermione's face. "I also g-grabbed th-the little bag of c-candies, I-I was c-curious about someth-thing."

Hermione frowned. "What would you possibly want with those things? You aren't going to use them on anyone, are you?" Juniper shook her head no.

"I w-wanted t-to see what th-they t-tasted like. I n-never ate a l-lot of sweets at h-home. Its n-not like it'll d-do anyth-thing t-to me. I already have r-red hair." Juniper fished one of the candies out and promptly devoured it. "I d-didn't really have th-that big of a b-breakfast. Th-They're actually quite g-good."

"Just don't use them on people unless they know what they are. I don't want to get into any trouble before we even get to Hogwarts." Juniper nodded in response. "You do know that you're going to have to deal with people asking questions eventually, right?" Hermione asked. Juniper nodded sadly.

"Th-That doesn't mean I c-can't put it off for as l-long as p-possible." Juniper replied.

The two of them felt the weight shift in the car they were in. The scenery in the window began to shift until it changed completely; they had left the station and were on their way to Hogwarts.

"So what did you do over the month? I spent most of mine reading the different books we got. I thought Hogwarts a History was the most interesting. I also hung out with my parents a lot."

"I d-did th-the same. Th-There wasn't t-too much t-to do. So I r-read th-through a l-lot of the books we g-got. I l-liked Hogwarts a History." Hermione looked happy.

"There were so many things that I want to see when we get there. I read that the staircases move around and some of the doors were a bit tricky. Each house has a ghost to. To think that ghosts actually exist is exciting in and of itself. So, any idea which house you might end up in?" Hermione asked. Juniper looked down before replying.

"I h-honestly have n-no idea. I d-doubt if I'll end up in G-Gryffindor, b-but any of th-the other th-three sounded like they c-could work for me. What ab-bout you?" Juniper asked.

"I'd be willing to bet money that I'd end up in Ravenclaw. The aspects of that house seem to fit, for all the good it did me. I still have absolutely no idea how we're sorted." Hermione groaned.

"Maybe it'll b-be someth-thing simple. It c-could b-be like p-pulling names out-of a m-magical hat of someth-thing." Hermione nodded in response.

"It can't be anything to difficult; some people are experiencing magic for the first time in their lives. Though I think it would be more dignified then pulling names out of a hat."

The door slowly slid open to reveal a large individual frantically looking around the compartment for something. He turned to us before asking "Have either of you seen a toad? He seems to have run off, again."

Hermione and Juniper both shook their heads no. The boy sighed, which caused Hermione to speak up. "Would you like us to help look for him? Three people can find it quicker than one. Would you be willing to help Juniper?"

"I th-think I c-could check th-the b-back few c-cars. There won't b-be th-that many p-people in th-them." Juniper replied. "How many c-cars have you ch-checked?" The boy smiled real big.

"I've checked the middle cars, four of them, that leaves the three in front and the ones left to the end. I could take the ones up front and you two could check the ones in the back." The boy said. "Oh, my name's Neville."

"I'm Hermione."

"J-Juniper."

"Pleased to meet the both of you and thank you so much for helping me." The boy went back up through the door he came through, leaving Juniper and Hermione alone in the car by themselves again. They got up and began searching for the toad that had escaped the larger boy's grasp.

**Scene-Shift**

Ron boarded the second to last car on the train. It was weird, meeting a celebrity and not even realizing it.

She didn't seem like it. She was extremely shy, even tempered; she wasn't anything like the she was in the books. She hid her scar… It didn't make since! If he had that kind of fame he'd be the first to wear it proudly, not hide it behind his red hair. Why was she so shy? She should be used to people looking at her. It'd come with being the girl-who-lived. She flat out ran as fast as she could the second we found out who she was.

He was so busy thinking that he didn't hear the door to his car open, nor did he notice the girl he ran into earlier come up and tap him on the shoulder until she was right there. He jumped about a foot in the air.

"Excuse me, have you seen a toad, a boy farther up front has lost his." Hermione said. Ron just shook his head. He then noticed Juniper standing a little further back, behind Hermione.

"Hey, why did you run away so quickly before, and why didn't you tell us who you were?" he was a bit annoyed that he was being given the run around. Juniper seemed to shrink back a bit.

"I t-told you who I w-was, I t-told you th-that my name was J-Juniper." Ron frowned at this.

"But you didn't actually tell us that you were _the_ Juniper Potter. You're a legend. You shouldn't hide that." Ron's voice rose as he continued. Juniper cowered back a little, but was able to keep her resolve.

"Hermione's here, I'm not going to run away." She muttered softly. Ron couldn't hear it, but Hermione could, just barely.

"W-would you have t-treated me th-the same?" Juniper said.

"What?" He blinked. He wasn't expecting that as a reply. Juniper just pressed on.

"W-would you have t-treated me th-the same? You w-were all so n-nice t-to me. It was j-just you helping out a l-little g-girl th-that was lost at th-th st-station. Hermione was n-nice to me before she kn-knew who I was and w-was n-nice afterwards. I d-don't want people to be f-friends with J-Juniper P-Potter, I want p-people to be friends with me, J-Juniper. If you kn-knew all you w-would want t-to do would be t-to ask questions about a n-night th-that happened when I w-was a b-baby, you w-wouldn't have c-cared about m-me." Juniper voice raised and cracked as she said this. Ron was looking to the ground not meeting either of their eyes.

"I w-want p-people t-to know me for someth-thing other th-then my p-parent's deaths." was the last sentence she choked out. She reached for one of Fred and Georges candies, thinking that the sweet would help.

"I think we should continue our search into the next car." Hermione said uncomfortably after several minutes of silence. Juniper just nodded.

The last thing Ron saw was the back of Juniper's red hair as she closed the door behind her.

Juniper looked through the car a bit more vigorously then she would have before. Ron got under her skin. He was so nice before, but now he was acting like a jealous prat.

Fred and George didn't change like that to, did they? They were fun, they seemed like the people to develop devil horns from angel halos, but they were nice.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked. She apparently noticed the excessively violent way I was looking through the overhead compartment. Juniper took a breath and tried to push the thoughts of the Weasleys as far from her mind as possible.

"J-Just a little f-frustrated, it's n-nothing." she said. Hermione just nodded in understanding.

"Ron was a bit of a prat, wasn't he? I think he actually feels bad about it now, though. We could give him another chance when you calm down. I think if the toad is in fact in this compartment then you may or may not have scarred him for the rest of his life with all of that shifting. He'd be hopping as fast as he could to get away and we would've seen him." Juniper put her hand behind her head and laughed sheepishly. She followed Hermione through the door back to Ron.

The first thing they saw was a boy with blonde hair walking over to them, leaving a very annoyed and angry looking Ron with two really large individuals.

"I've heard that Juniper Potter was on this train, judging by the lightning shaped scar I'm guessing you're her. I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy." Draco's nose was hung in an air of self importance as he said this. Juniper thought for sure that he spent more time in the bathroom then her Aunt Petunia before her and Uncle Vernon's anniversary. His robes were sleek silk, very expensive looking.

"I heard that you and the Weasel had a bit of a tiff. I'm not really surprised. You should learn to keep better company than him. Who's your other friend?" Draco asked with a smug look on his face. Juniper thought he seemed to be a bit too friendly, considering they just met.

"Hermione Granger." Hermione said with confidence and a look of disgust on her face. Apparently she didn't like him that much either.

Draco just looked thoughtful before replying. "Hmm, I don't remember their being a Granger line of wizards in the world."

"I'm muggle-born." Hermione said proudly, which causes Draco to get this really disgusted look on his face.

"You really, really need help picking your friends, Potter. I can help you there. Honestly paling around with a filthy mud-blood like her…" He never got to finish. Juniper's wand was thrust up faster than anyone there could see.

"STU-STUPENDO" Juniper said loudly. The spell left her wand faster then she thought. She honestly didn't expect a spell to come out. She had never actually practiced the spells at home. She just read about it in her Defense Book at home. She was just too angry to care. She never got this angry before. She just hoped the spell worked.

And it did. It worked really well.

Draco was hurled back. The spell was a really low level spell that imitated a bunch being hurled through the air, but it looked more like a giant wall was thrown at Draco, and it took its toll to. She was barely standing on her own two feet.

Draco's two goons rushed to Draco to make sure that he was alright. The entire front of his face looked a little flatter, but he was conscious, barely.

"You're oing to rebret dat." He sounded muffled, like he was talking with someone putting their hand over his nose.

"I would leave"

"If I were you." replied a pair of familiar voices. She looked farther back and saw that the Weasley twins both had their wands out and pointed at Draco and his friends. Ron looked like he was ready to maul Draco. Hermione was just standing off to the side in stunned silence.

"Course if I were you

"I'd want to hang myself"

"So we can't really be"

"The best judges." Juniper was getting a headache again. She would eventually get used to that. Just not now, and it wasn't helping how exhausted she felt.

Draco just turned his not flat and broken nose in the air and limped off with his two goons traveling close behind. Hermione seemed to shake herself out of her stupor and slapped me on the shoulder.

"Why would you do something like that?" Hermione said with a frown. "He wasn't worth it." Juniper just frowned back in response.

"D-Do you know what the t-term he used means?" Hermione stared at her weirdly. Juniper continued. "I g-got a d-dictionary before I b-bumped into you at th-the bookstore. It's th-the foulest th-thing you c-can c-call someone with m-muggle parents. It's an insult t-to b-both you and y-your p-parents. I c-couldn't let him say th-that t-to you." Hermione's face softened a bit.

"I am grateful that you stood up for me. It's just… I really wasn't expecting that from you." Hermione said thoughtfully

"What d-do you mean 'someone l-like me,' huh?" she looked indignant as she said this. Hermione just smiled.

"You! You're the quietest, shyest person I've ever met, and you just seemed to randomly shout out a spell from our defense book. It's kind of a shock." Hermione started to laugh a bit when Juniper started muttering to herself incoherently.

"It looks like the ickle firsties"

"Need a bit more protection than we thought."

"Getting into fights before you even get to Hogwarts,"

"You do the both of us proud." Juniper put her hand behind her head and laughed uncomfortably again. She was starting to get used to the back and forth that Fred and George had. Hermione just shook her head.

"I think we're getting close to the school, we should probably change into our school robes." Hermione stated calmly. The three red heads nodded in response and let them through. They locked the door behind them as they left.

**A/N-How was that for a chapter? Was it worth the wait? As always be sure to leave your reviews. Next chapter is the first at Hogwarts.**


	6. Chapter 5

**The Life of Juniper Potter**

**Chapter 5**

**The Sorting**

**A/N-First, I don't have many rules with regards to reviews, but please don't curse. It's ugly and unattractive. Second, I wasn't inactive, I was studying for finals. I took summer classes at my college. Third, I'm taking out the perspective dividers. They broke things up to much and weren't really necessary. I intend to remove them from later chapters at a later date. Finally, the last Harry Potter movie was one of the best pieces of cinema to ever hit the big screen. Period, end of discussion. **

**Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.**

This was the part of the year he looked forward to most, to see kids get there first honest to god glimpse of Hogwarts. Sure most of the kids here had heard stories of the place from their folks, and a lot of them had seen stuff in books, but nothing truly compared to sailing over the lake and getting a real view of where they were going.

Hagrid wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world.

He had arrived at the train station a little earlier than normal. He wanted to make sure everything was in order with the boats, but got done quicker than expected. He could see the express barreling down the rails slower and slower until it came to a heart warming stop. Students started to flock out of the train and he could already start picking out who the first years were; everyone else had on their house colors.

"Alright, firs' years gather round. Come on then don't want ter be late fer yer own sorting do ya?" He said this loud enough for those still on the train to hear, but said it a few more times just in case someone didn't quite get the message.

He smiled widely when he saw Juniper leave one of the cars. Hermione was quick to follow.

"Hello there, Juniper. I trust everything went well at King's Cross." Hagrid smiled. Juniper frowned a little bit.

"I d-didn't know how t-to get on t-to th-the platform at first. Some nice p-people helped me th-though so I was able t-to get on." Hagrid looked a bit crestfallen at his blunder. She tried to improve his mood a bit. "Th-They were really n-nice. Th-they were th-the Weasley family and I was able t-to make friends with th-the twins."

Now Hagrid looked horrified. "They didn't give you nuttin' did they; some weird candy or package to open at a later date? They have a tendency to try out their new products on firs' years."

Hermione motioned towards the bag on Junipers belt. "They gave her those. She doesn't have to worry about it, and I told her not to give them to anyone. I don't like pranks; they always lead to someone getting hurt."

"Th-They said that they tried stuff on Ron as well. I don't th-there the kind of people t-to intentionally hurt family." Juniper said. "I th-think they just joke around for the most part, n-nothing serious."

Hagrid smiled before nodding. "Most of its harmless; you'll go back to the way you were before in ten minutes or so. What did they give ya?"

"Some c-candy th-that would give me a h-head of Weasley r-red hair." She pointed to her already red hair and ate another piece. "I n-never ate a lot of sweets b-back home. Th-These really are quite g-good."

"Well, I think we should continue this conversation later. I think that's the last of the students from the train." Hagrid raised his hands to his mouth before bellowing one last time. "Firs' years, line up and follow me." He led them down a narrow bath that cut through some fairly thick brush. The road winded a bit, and it seemed like it took forever to get there.

"Yeh'll be getting your firs' view of Hogwarts soon." Hagrid shouted. He looked like he was trying to bite back a grin. The narrow path opened up, and Hogwarts loomed over head.

The castle was beautiful. It stood tall and strong and was the biggest building that she had ever laid eyes on. It seemed to almost glow and reflected off of the water brilliantly. She had a dazed happy look on her face. This would be where she would spend the next ten months of her life? It was beautiful…

Hagrid looked down and noticed something weird. "Oi, did anyone lose a toad?" Neville ran up really quick before claiming him as his. The toad, which had just been proclaimed as Trevor, jumped to his master and into his hands, before jumping up and onto his shoulder.

"He seems a little to welcoming for a toad that ran away." said Hermione to Juniper.

"Maybe he m-missed his master?" Juniper responded back. Hermione just shrugged and followed behind Hagrid and Juniper. He had led them to the edge of a large black lake with a number of boats lined up at the shore.

"Alright then, four to a boat. Hermione, Juniper, ya sit with me." Juniper and Hermione just nodded and got in the boat in the dead center. Hagrid made sure that each group of first years was safe in a boat. She noticed that Ron was with Neville and a pair of boys she didn't know, and Malfoy was with his goons and Pansy. There were a bunch of people that she didn't know, but she also noticed that there weren't that many people here; thirty or forty at the most.

These would be her potential dorm mates. She didn't have any idea what house she would be, and that unnerved her. She could be forced to bunk with Pansy. That'd be bad. The girl was positive that she would be a Slytherin and Juniper had a strong suspicion that she was like a female version of Draco.

Draco, another person she wanted to avoid at all costs. She had already hexed him once. She was worried about her wand again. The spell was a lot stronger than she was expecting it to be. She didn't want a repeat performance and hurting someone.

"Hermione, do you th-think we'll b-be sorted into th-the same house?" She asked tentatively. "We t-talked about it on th-the train, but we d-didn't talk about th-that." Hermione just looked thoughtful at the question.

"I don't know if we'll end up in the same house, but I do know that we'll still talk and hang out, regardless of what house we're a part of. House rivalry shouldn't mean so much that we forget friends, and we came into this new world together, and we're not going to be pulled apart by houses." Hermione said confidently.

"Still, it'd be nice t-to share a d-dorm room. It'd b-be a l-lot easier; for st-studying, for t-talking, for anything really." Juniper sighed.

"True, but ye'd be hard pressed to pull you two apart. I'm sure you'll both be fine." They both turned and saw that Hagrid had returned. He stepped down into the boat and they both felt it sagged a bit. He pushed off, and soon they were all set adrift in the murky water.

"So who are all of the different teachers here at Hogwarts, Hagrid?" Hermione asked. Hagrid looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Hmm… well let's see if I can remember the firs' year's schedule. You'll have Professor Sinistra in Astronomy and Professor Quirrell for Defense against the Dark Arts. Juniper, you met Quirrell at the Leaky Cauldron." Juniper nodded in response.

"He had a st-stutter, like me, and he seemed r-really n-nervous and p-paranoid." Juniper said. Hagrid just nodded.

"He hasn't been the same since he left Romania, but for the life of him, he says he can' remember wha' happened. Professor Sinistra went with him, they were on a joint research trip to try and find a way to counteract the killing curse. He'll probably want to examine your scar, to see if he can find a way to block it like you did. Sinistra was his guide and she says that she can't really remember anything either. Dumbledore thinks they may have been Obliviated, but neither he nor Professor Snape seem to be able to restore their memories." Hagrid explained.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.

"He'll be your potions teacher. He's also the head of Slytherin house, looks a bit like a bat. Professor Sprout is the head of Hufflepuff house and your herbology teacher, Professor Flitwick is the head of Ravenclaw house and he teaches charms, and you both already know Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said. "In addition to those six, Madame Hooch teaches basic broom handling to firs' years, and Professor Binns teaches History of Magic."

Hermione looked nervous. "I'm not entirely sure about flying on a broom. It's a little intimidating." Hermione replied.

"Don't worry about it too much Hermione. Professor Hooch is a fairly straight forward teacher; she won't let anything bad happen to ya. Just listen to what she says and yeh'll be fine." Hagrid replied.

"D-Don't worry Hermione, I'm sure you'll d-do fine. I'm actually excited ab-bout our f-first flying lesson. It sounds l-like fun." Juniper a small clunk and realized that they had in fact hit land. Hagrid got out and tied the boats to the pier.

"Alright than, firs' years, please follow me. We're almost there." Hagrid led them inside. Juniper noticed a familiar face the second they walked in. "Alright than Professor McGonagall, all yours."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here." Professor McGonagall responded. She looked upon the sea of new faces. She recognized a few of the faces almost instantly. She recognized Severus's godson, Draco. He looked just as stuck up as his father. She also spotted what she assumed was the sixth Weasley. There were a few muggle-born students that she had escorted, but the one that drew her attention were the two girls she had led earlier this month, Hermione and Juniper.

She led them down the entrance hall and hurled the large double doors open wide. She gazed upon the hourglasses of the four houses before turning to face the student once more.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly but before we begin, you'll need to be sorted. The sorting is a very important part of your lives here because your houses will be something akin to your family while you're here. I urge you all to see them as such and feel free to contact your head of house if you have any problems. You will have classes, sleep in the same dorm, and spend free time in your house common room." She said clearly to the rest of the students.

"Or th-the library." Juniper whispered to Hermione. Hermione just nodded before shushing her.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. By doing well, you earn points towards the house cup that is awarded each year. However, points will be taken off for any rule breaking." She gazed at the Weasley's hair and thought of the twins as she said this.

"The sorting ceremony will begin in a few minutes in front of the student body. I will return when we are ready for you, please wait here quietly." She turned and left through another set of doors.

Hermione, not wanting to do anything to go against a teacher, clammed up after this; even though everyone else started talking the second the large doors closed. Juniper wanted to talk a little more, but she settled for listening to some of the banter going on in the hall.

"…I heard from my brothers that you had to fight a troll…" was what she heard from Ron. She briefly wondered if those brothers were Fred and George and chuckled at the thought. It almost seemed surreal, having siblings.

"…Not Hufflepuff, not Slytherin. Not Hufflepuff, Not Slytherin…" was the chant that came from Neville. She understood why he didn't want to go to Slytherin, but Hufflepuff seemed pretty nice. A place of truly loyal friends… It sounded nice…

"…I just wish they'd hurry up, I already know where I'm going…" Juniper knew as well, and it had nothing to do with Malfoy's sorting. She noticed that the girl from their fitting was almost hanging on every word he said. Juniper began repeating the latter part of Neville's mantra. Not Slytherin… not Slytherin…

The double doors opened once more, breaking Juniper's mantra. Professor McGonagall stepped through with clip board in hand. "We're ready for you now." She turned and went in. Everyone else followed suit.

Juniper looked around and saw the colors of Slytherin adorning the upper flags. There were five long tables, four were occupied by students but the fifth was smaller and left open with none of the house colors adorning it. The table for unsorted first years, it would seem. Towards the front of the hall was a large table for the teachers to sit at.

But in front of that, there was a stool, a stool that Professor McGonagall was making her way towards.

With a soft plunk she removed the hat she was wearing and placed it on the stool. It started moving on its own and a rip appeared above the lining.

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
>But don't judge on what you see,<br>I'll eat myself if you can find  
>A smarter hat than me.<em>

You can keep your bowlers black,  
>Your top hats sleek and tall,<br>For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
>And I can cap them all.<p>

There's nothing hidden in your head  
>The Sorting Hat can't see,<br>So try me on and I will tell you  
>Where you ought to be.<p>

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
>Where dwell the brave at heart,<br>Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
>Set Gryffindors apart;<p>

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
>Where they are just and loyal,<br>Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
>And unafraid of toil;<p>

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
>if you've a ready mind,<br>Where those of wit and learning,  
>Will always find their kind;<p>

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
>You'll make your real friends,<br>Those cunning folks use any means  
>To achieve their ends.<p>

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
>And don't get in a flap!<br>You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
>For I'm a Thinking Cap!<p>

There was a roar of thunderous applause for the out of tune hat. It took a few bows before turning to the crowd. Juniper and Hermione both stood there with their mouths hanging agape.

"That's it? That's all we have to do? Put on a hat?" Hermione sputtered.

"I was actually c-close." Juniper stammered.

"I'm going to kill Fred. Mom won't miss him. I'll just burry his body in the forbidden forest. No one will ever know that it was me." Ron sputtered angrily. Juniper just smiled. They were brought out of their own thoughts when a loud shout resounded throughout the halls.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Someone had already been sorted. Her robes magically changed to match her new house colors, and there was a thunderous applause from the Hufflepuff table. Professor McGonagall continued down through the list on names that Juniper half listened to. Anonymity went out the window and into the lake faster than she thought possible with this. She was broken out of her thought when a name she knew was called.

"Granger, Hermione." Professor McGonagall called out.

Hermione stared at the hat apprehensively before finally putting it on her head. It seemed to spring to life and wiggle a bit.

'Hmmm… interesting…' said the hat. From what she saw before, the hat didn't talk. This must've been something that the hat only shared with the wearer.

'Correct, Miss Granger, and before you ask, I'm not only on your head but in your head as well. You have the traits of a few different houses. I see loyalty for Hufflepuff, though it only seems to be for one person in particular, not a vast assortment of friends. You're smart, very smart; I haven't seen a mind quite like yours in a very long time. You'd be among like minded individuals in Ravenclaw. It'd be an excellent place for you. Which would you prefer?'

'You mean I get to choose?' she thought. The hat chuckled.

'I narrow it down a bit, but ultimately the final decision is always left to the person that puts me on. Those that know where they want to go and have the traits to back it up are always sorted quickly, almost immediately in fact. Those that are more open or have a problem with my ideas take longer. So again I ask. Which would you prefer?' The hat reiterated. Hermione just looked thoughtful for a second before thinking her response to the hat.

'Well then, it better be…'

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted. The Ravenclaw table clapped wildly, they weren't the only ones. Juniper started clapping as well. She cheered as her friend's clothes changed to match the colors of the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione took the hat off and gently placed it on the stool before joining the rest of the Ravenclaw students at their table. She sent me a small smile and waved before sitting down.

Professor McGonagall continued down the list of names and Juniper started to tune them out. Her thoughts were buzzing with one thought in mind.

She NEEDED to get into Ravenclaw.

There was a long period in which all was silent. Juniper looked up to see the boy that lost his toad being sorted. Juniper stared on in silence before the hat finally declared…

"GRYFFINDOR!" Juniper gaped. HE was Gryffindor brave. When they talked on the train he was almost as timid as Juniper herself. To further exemplify this, the boy ran from the stool with the hat still on his head. Juniper bit back a giggle but some of the other students, particularly from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, weren't as restrained. The Gryffindor students had a look of horror on their faces.

Shortly after that, Malfoy was called up. The hat declared Slytherin the second it was placed on his overly pampered head. The same thing happened when it was placed on the head of Pansy Parkinson.

"Potter, Juniper." The entire hall broke into whispers. That was predictable. Next would be the stares as she walked up to the stool; which they did, only stopping to whisper more to their neighbors. She made her way with her head down and made sure to cover her scar with her hair. She didn't raise her head or look out to the crowd. She only looked up when she got to the hat. She sat down before placing it on her head. It seemed to wiggle to life almost instantly.

_'Hmm… difficult… Plenty of courage, though you don't seem to realize it. Gryffindor might help that shine through. You're smart, very smart for a girl your age, and you seem to spend a lot of time reading. The loyalty you have for your friends is impeccable, regardless of how long you know them you stick up for them. Cunning too, and you wish to prove yourself, albeit in a different way from everyone else… yes so very, very difficult.'_ The hat said in his mind before going silent for a few minutes. Juniper was starting to get worried that she wouldn't be sorted at all.

'_Ha! You don't worry your pretty little head about that, I'll find a place for you. Your traits are making me run around in circles so why don't we look outside your head to see what's best. Your views of Slytherin house are slanted based on two previous encounters don't be so quick to write them off as dark, though I think putting you there might be hazardous to your health. You are cunning, and Slytherin could help you on your way to greatness, though I can tell that's the last thing you want. The seeds of bravery need to be given a little light to truly blossom, but I don't think Gryffindor is the house you should be in for that. You seem like the person that finds bravery in defense of others a trait that endears you to Hufflepuff so very, very well.'_ The hat reasoned. Juniper was getting lost. The hat changed its mind more than Dudley at the toy store. She wanted Ravenclaw.

'_Yes, yes I think that might actually be the perfect fit.'_ Juniper dreaded that she would be put into Hufflepuff, away from Hermione. _'You seem quite attached to her, considering you only shared a few days with her. Your loyalty to her would cause your bravery to blossom in her defense. Ravenclaw is just as well known for its cunning as Slytherin, and you would be in an ample environment to make friends. Yes, I think it would be a perfect fit, for both you and the house.'_ The hat finished.

'_Well than, for your sake and my sanity, let's end this sorting. Better be…'_

"RAVENCLAW!"

**A/N-How was that for an update? The reasoning for Juniper's sorting is rather self-evident (see the three long paragraphs of explanation that the hat gives), and Hermione's will be explained more in depth in later chapters. You have no idea how much I wanted to leave it as a cliffy after the second paragraph of explanation. This should also make thing quite a bit different in day to day interactions and from this point on, the differences will become very, very noticeable. As always be sure to review and tell me what I'm screwing up.**


End file.
